A curtain wall generally includes a plurality of juxtaposed panels secured to a supporting frame and which together often form an exterior wall of a building. Each panel can be made of one or more materials, such as glass, metal, stone and many others, depending on the desired architectural aspect and function of each panel. A curtain wall can have identical panels or have a plurality of different types of panels. These panels are generally connected to beams, called mullions. Each mullion is part of the supporting frame of the curtain wall. The supporting frame is itself anchored or otherwise secured to the main building structure. A curtain wall often spans multiple floors. Other applications and configurations also exist.
The design of a curtain wall often involves dealing with many different design requirements at the same time. Some of these design requirements can include, for instance, preventing air and water infiltration over the years, resisting to possible high wind forces acting on the building, resisting to possible seismic events, minimizing thermal transfers during cold and/or hot weather conditions, allowing thermal expansion and contraction of the materials due to temperature changes, resisting to building sway and movement, allowing panels to be easily replaced when needed, etc. Fulfilling multiple design requirements while keeping the manufacturing and installation costs to a minimum can sometimes be very challenging. Room for improvements thus always exists in this area.